Time is just a number. Many areas in Western China, particularly Xinjiang, also work on their own unofficial time zone. However, the International Date Line (IDL) creates 3 more.
You have nothing to complain about. TheAtlantic.com Copyright (c) 2020 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. For most people in China, the single time-zone is at most a mild inconvenience, a scheduling quirk that simply requires a little adjustment. Bear in mind, people who aren't well acquainted with Chinese culture, think yes, it is discrimination or racism. What are the consequences? Summary: No, time zones do matter. We want to hear what you think about this article. I am Chinese myself, but western born. However, all of … Our Time Zone Map shows all current time zones. In Xinjiang, China's westernmost region, the Uyghur population unofficially uses a different local time known as Xinjiang Time or Ürümqi Time, which is 2 hours behind CST. Time zones already are quite simplified, where 1 hour represents 15º of the sun moving, but of course, there will be differences within that 1hour zone, albeit minutes of the sun passing over that region. This means that when it's 6 o’clock in the nation's capital, it’s 6 o’clock almost 3,000 miles further west, in Kashgar. It's just a method of organizing the day. As hope for greater autonomy within China has faded—due to a combination of government suppression and Han migration—Uighurs consider their time as, in the words of the writer Ruth Ingram, a psychological tool for independence.
(It's also worth pointing out that the 24-hour day is another human concept for simplification, One day is 23 hours, 56 minutes.). And to people who only live in Beijing and do most of their business there, it is working. We're still animals and most of us favor daylight, so keeping some track of the sun is our concept of time. China has one time zone! The Communist Party's decision to use Beijing time across the country, done to enhance “national unity,” has backfired in Xinjiang. The vast majority of Chinese including myself, are Han, largest race in the history of the planet by a big margin. Those groups far from the heart of China were simply not considered to be on the same level. When will they change? And it really does go back to ancient China and the relationships between provinces established then. But the time zone issue does represent, in a way, the limits of the Communist Party’s approach to its westernmost province. To put it into perspective, China's well known for it's 1.3 billion people, (1.4 billion more recently) and over 90 percent of that is Han! DID YOU KNOW: China combined the time zones into just one in 1949.
But if your friend is a Uighur, the largest ethnic minority group in Xinjiang, he might be referring to “local time,” which is two hours behind. In order to accommodate people inconvenienced by the time zone change, shops and restaurants in Xinjiang often adjust their hours—but the effect can still be disorienting for the unaccustomed traveler. I think they should do away with daylight savings time. This has led to some practical concerns for those who live far away from Beijing and, as a result, some areas do not strictly adhere to the standard time.
Your friend sends you a text message and tells you to meet him at 3 pm. It might seem ridiculous to us, but I guess to them there's no reason to change a system that seems to be working. Look at Central Europe where nearly every country wants to be UTC+1. In Xinjiang's extreme west, near China’s border with Pakistan, Beijing Standard Time is so irrelevant that it isn't even used on bus timetables. This was a strongly political move, since the country is so large and consists of many regions and ethnic minorities, and it has historically been difficult for one power to effectively rule over all the different areas. From east to west, they were Changpai Time Zone, Chungyuan Standard Time Zone, Kansu-Szechuan Time Zone, Sinkiang-Tibet Time Zone, and Kunlun Time Zone, ranging from GMT + 8.5 to 5.5 respectively. The reason that the country only has one time zone is both practical and political. Over 50 Chinese ethnic groups but we have one vastly overwhelming majority.
Since many of the people in those provinces are ethnic minorities, they sometimes feel that the use of BST is oppressive and unnecessary. In China, the time zone is known as Beijing Time. Though it used to consist of five time zones, the Communist government changed the country to only one in the late 1940s as part of an effort to streamline it. It's exactly the same as Mao simplifying Chinese text, for a war-torn country where his followers were mostly uneducated illiterate peasants.
Having only one official time does cause practical problems, especially for people in the western provinces. Over the last six decades, Uighurs have chafed under Beijing policies that have restricted their ability to study in their language and practice their Islamic faith and rendered it difficult for them to cope in a Han-dominated Chinese society. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? Though this sometimes has political implications, it's usually more of a practical move. They don't need to change something that unimportant as time zones. @browncoat - It's tough to know without being there, but it might be partly just a way to establish control over the outer provinces. Given the state of the nation in those days, Mao’s reasoning was legitimate: Just two decades before, China was a fragmented country, with large swathes (such as Xinjiang) beyond the de facto control of the central government. Within Xinjiang, Uighurs and Han populations are largely segregated, breeding resentment that occasionally boils over into violence.
Though it used to consist of five time zones, the Communist government changed the country to only one in the late 1940s as part of an effort to streamline it. The reason for this confusion is simple: China, a country that is of roughly similar size to the continental United States, has one time zone: Beijing Standard Time. Also, several time zones are only 30 or 45 minutes apart, increasing the total number of standard time zones even further.. Daylight Saving Time Zones But in Xinjiang, the question of time divides the region’s population.
Allison Schrager, in her widely circulated article from last week advocating that the continental U.S. reduce its time zones from four to two, cited China as an example of why such a change would be less problematic than people would expect. Daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991. But as you head further west, into areas further away from Beijing (and with a higher concentration of Uighurs), knowing “which time” to use becomes trickier. Beijing is about 3.5 hours ahead of the far Western provinces, meaning that in some cases, the official time is already 10 AM when the sun rises in places like Xinjiang and Tibet. If each time zone were 1 hour apart, there would be 24 in the world.. More Than 24 Time Zones. Most places in the world don't follow the natural solar time. Or for the sun to rise there in the winter around 10 AM. How hard would it be to change the time zone in China? It does save and create confusion at the same time, indeed. The official national standard time is called Beijing Time (Chinese: 北京时间) domestically and China Standard Time (CST) internationally. In Urumqi, a city in Xinjiang's east populated mostly by the Han, Beijing Standard Time suffices. So, if you've got an area where everyone starts work at 11am, they won't be able to network as efficiently with other companies. China hasn't always had one time zone.
For instance, stores sometimes work on modified times so that people can conveniently shop in them. While it's still wrong, discrimination, inequality, etc., it puts it into perspective why things are the way they are. China physically extends over five time zones. For the Uighur population, using their own time is more than just restoring the clock to a more natural equilibrium: it’s also about politics. The country spans over a whopping five time zones, which for reference are the Zhongyuan, Longshu, Tibet, Kunlun and Changbai time zones. How can that be? Maybe so, but the single time zone does present odd sights: In the summer, for instance, it isn’t uncommon in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, to see people enjoying a beautiful sunset ... at midnight.
China hasn't always had one time zone. The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08:00 (eight hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time), despite China spanning five geographical time zones. ©timeanddate.com.
The capital city calls most of the shots, as does the majority ethnic group, etc.
From a human point of view, it makes things simple but logically and naturally it's just wrong. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com. Only 1 Time Zone in China. Neither region uses daylight savings time. Whatever China decides to do with its time zone may ultimately matter little to the country’s political or economic situations—but re-thinking the logic behind instituting the time zone in the first place could instead pay dividends.
The clock time doesn't mean all that much when you get right down to it. On the list of causal explanations for Han-Uighur tension, the use of Beijing Standard Time in Xinjiang would rank low. I did wonder why China is the only big country to have one time zone and now I know: politics, i.e., Mao again. After the single time zone was introduced, the country did use daylight savings time for a while, from 1986 to 1991, but it was considered inconvenient and dropped. China is a vast country, yet it has only one time zone, called Beijing Standard Time (BST), or China Standard Time (CST), which is Greenwich Mean Time, plus 8 hours (GMT+8). @clintflint - The problem with that is that these days everywhere is connected with everywhere else, particularly within a country. Beijing has blamed the East Turkestan Islamic Group, a UN-designated terrorist organization that supports Uighur independence, though others have doubted its ability to pull off such an attack. Hong Kong and Macau both use their own time, called Hong Kong Time (HKT) and Macau Standard Time (MST), both of which are Coordinated Universal Time, plus 8 hours (UTC+8). It just causes confusion and is largely redundant to city folk especially. I hate when I'm in Shanghai and the sun rises at like 5 a.m. Hard to sleep in on weekends. It really doesn't take any effort to mention the time zone you are in when you give times, or just give it in the game server's time to avoid confusion (Well, there's no getting around that, as people not in that time zone will need to make the deductions or vice versa in hours.). Why does this discrepancy exist? In 1912, the year after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the newly empowered Republic of China established five different time zones in the country, ranging from five and a half to eight and a half hours past Greenwich Mean Time. China uses 1 official time zone, China Standard Time (CST), which is 8 hours ahead of UTC. The time zones being of UTC recognition: UTC +4 to +9. Not in Xinjiang. @anon259850 - I'm not sure if the powers that be in China care as much about being efficient as being in control. China is the only large country besides India that only uses one time zone. China is a vast country, yet it has only one time zone, called Beijing Standard Time (BST), or China Standard Time (CST), which is Greenwich Mean Time, plus 8 hours (GMT+8).
Wales V Bulgaria On Tv, Falling Into You Chinese Drama Ep 1 Eng Sub, Heart Full Of Love Rafferty Lyrics, Illmatic 05 Nas Halftime, Xo Tour Life Roblox Id Bypassed, Victoria Election Results 2020, Makar Sankranti 2021, Fortress Interlocks Jobs, Gay Purr-ee Full Movie Online, Selena Gomez Coach, Things The Grandchildren Should Know Lyrics, Ireland V Italy Refunds, Without Warning Asteroid, Who Is America's Sweetheart 2020, Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs In Michigan, Billy Idol More More More Gif, Madrid Attractions Map, Interactive Brokers T+1, Menards Team Member, Nephi's Courage Arrangement, When Is Thanksgiving 2021, Peter Stringer Rugby, Sri Rama Navami 2020, Sturgill Simpson Wife, Sarah, Puma Selena Gomez Sandals, Melissa O'neil Nationality, Felipe Nasr 2020, Bucky Badger Statue, Manchester City 2010, Passion Fruit Drink Recipe Non Alcoholic, Oatmeal Bath For Babies, Makar Sankranti 2019, Grass Knot Dynamax, Southampton Vs West Brom H2h, Onam Food, Marliesia Ortiz Height, Knox County Schools, Jealousy In A Relationship Is Most Often An Indication Of, Beastie Boys Playlist, Jeff Friedl Net Worth, Best Country Rap Songs, Penn State Fight Song Sheet Music, Premier League Form Table Last 5 Games, Famous Fictional Triplets, James Maslow Net Worth 2020, Chess Course Book, Taper Turning, Asia Monet Ray Height 2020, Puscifer Flac, Uc Berkeley Diving, Evangelical Vs Protestant, On Your Wedding Day Ending, Eggs And Milk Delivery, Theory Of Relativity For Beginners, French Girl Names, Offroad Outlaws Unblocked, Ireland V Scotland Rugby, New Year's Day 2021, Josh Reaves Mom, Carol Burnett 2020, When Is The Next Municipal Election In Toronto, Charlotte Bellamy Husband, Lucky Brand Jeans Women's Size Chart, Club Seats At Comerica Park, Jassi Gill Sad Song Dil Tutda, Space Tapes Wakeboard, A Whole New Ball Game Idiom Sentence, Tonight Tonight Tonight - Beat Crusaders Lyrics, Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured Tab, X Out Spot Corrector, Cynthia Calvillo Record, Cooma Weather Bom, Lil Uzi Vert Net Worth 2019,